Jimmy Butler isn’t traveling with Heat this weekend, but he has a very good reason
Jimmy Butler has a good reason for his delayed official start to his Miami Heat tenure: The star wing had a baby daughter earlier this week.
Butler missed the Heat’s season opener against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday for undisclosed personal reasons and Erik Spoelstra revealed those reasons after practice Friday in Miami. Butler had a daughter and will not travel with the Heat this weekend for its games against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday and Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
“I think it’s like the worst-kept secret that’s out there right now why Jimmy missed the game. Jimmy is now a proud father. He has a baby daughter. The rest, I’ll let him pick up the details,” the coach said. “Everything has obviously just been unbelievable news in the last 24 hours. We’re thrilled for him and we’re really excited to add his daughter to our family.”
Butler, who came to Miami (1-0) in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers in July, was not at practice Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena and he does not plan to suit up against the Bucks (1-0) on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Fiserv Forum or in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the next day.
“The plan right now is for him not to go on the trip, so he can stay at the hospital,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll see from there. I’ll let you know when I know.”
Butler’s absence for the season-opening 120-101 win against the Grizzlies as a surprise. Spoelstra announced the four-time All-Star’s absence shortly before tip-off without delving into any specifics.
“Everything is fine,” he said. ”It’s all good.”
Two days later, Spoelstra revealed it’s actually very good.
With Butler missing Wednesday, the Heat turned to rookie Tyler Herro to start in his NBA debut. The shooting guard started alongside rookie point guard Kendrick Nunn, power forward Justise Winslow, and post players Meyers Leonard and Bam Adebayo. Herro and Nunn, a fellow rookie, should both be in line to make their second career starts against the Bucks.
Dion Waiters set to return Monday
Dion Waiters’ one-game suspension is over, but the wing won’t be back with the team until next week.
Waiters did not practice Friday and will not travel with the team to Milwaukee this weekend after missing the opener for conduct detrimental to the team.
“Same status,” Spoelstra said.
Waiters is expected to rejoin Miami on Monday and be available for a home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
“There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night,” president Pat Riley said in a statement Saturday. “As a consequence, I feel we had to suspend him.”
Forward James Johnson also will not travel for conditioning purposes. Power forward Udonis Haslem, who missed the opener with a wrist injury, will travel, but won’t play Saturday..
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 2:28 PM.
